Handbags!

It all seems to be kicking off Down Under in the series between Australia and the West Indies. Yesterday saw some real, proper argy-bargy between Sulieman ‘The Magnificent’ Benn and Brad Haddin. I particularly liked the exchange that got picked up on the stump mics with Benn (6ft 6in at least) saying to Haddin (5ft 10in if he’s lucky) ‘come on then big man, what are you saying to me?’ and Benn trying to poke Haddin in the face. Ultimately this ended up with a ban for 2 ODIs for Benn and fines for Haddin and Mitchell Johnson who was also involved.

I must admit I don’t like Benn, he strikes me as incredibly arrogant for someone who’s a truly ordinary spin bowler, and for some reason his loping run up really annoys me. I’ll add him to the list of West Indies cricketers I dislike, which includes Darren Sammy (covered by the Giraffe Farmer previously) and Ravi Rampaul (if he’s a Test bowler then I’m a Test bowler). But it was funny to have a huge West Indian bloke threatening a stocky Aussie. It was like watching clips from the 70s and 80s.

But you can understand why the Windies may be riled and react in this way. Apparently the Aussie press has been laying into them following their heavy defeat in the First Test. An article by Tony Cozier in response to the harsh attacks highlights the hypocritical attitude by the Aussie press pack.

Which brings me onto the best part of yesterday, Chris Gayle’s magnificent century (the 5th quickest of all-time in Test matches) which I had the fortune of watching on the highlights last night. It was truly inspiring to see one man flailing an admittedly mediocre Australia attack to all parts of the ground. Particular high points were successive sixes off Nathan Hauritz and also the shot that deposited Hauritz on the roof of the Dennis Lillee stand. Seriously, that was an almighty hit. Also a baseball style straight pull (I guess that’s the best description of the shot?) down the ground that barely got above 20 ft off the ground.

His opening partner Dowlin also hit some exquisite cover drives, though his run rate was more pedestrian. Ultimately the Windies got bowled out for 312, which is a 200 run deficit, but the situation is looking potentially interesting with the Aussies 136-8 overnight and 2 days left. 350 odd to get in the final innings is a task beyond most teams, but if Gayle pulls something out of the bag again then who knows.